Carers urge parents to not give up on disability housing

Judy and Arthur Lineham look around their community room in admiration; it took them over two years of going to markets, sausage sizzles and dancing nights to raise the money for the room and even more lobbying to get the government to build the units surrounding it. The couple have achieved what other elderly carers are striving for in Gippsland, a secure future for the person they care for.

Judy and Arthur's son Craig was born with an intellectual disability and was living independently for a few years with assistance, when they both attended a meeting called by local Ted Dawson.

"His son had MS and for respite he had to go to an old people's home and it was very degrading ... Ted called a public meeting, that was ten years ago," Arthur says.

Ted was pushing for public housing for adults with a disability in Sale.

What followed was years of planning, finding the land for the units, convincing the Department of Human Services to fund and build the units and finally to build a community room to be funded by the wider community.

In order to get the funds together for the room Judy and Arthur formed a charity called The Five Star Project, which is still active today.

They are both content now, seeing Craig make friends with the other residents and live in comfort.

Judy recalls the day Craig was given the keys to his unit.

"The smile on his face just said so much... they were all excited which was lovely to see and from that day it was like we could start to take a step back, where we felt before we couldn't but now Craig has just blossomed," she says.

However before the whole project got off the ground, it was a different story.

Judy says they were both fearful of Craig's future and it motivated them to keep looking for a solution.

"We knew something had to be done but we didn't know what," she says.

Judy and Arthur now speak with other elderly carers who are in the same situation, offering them advice on lobbying for similar facilities in their towns.

"At least I can say for Craig that he's got a place to be and that's all that matters. We can still support them when they're individually living but they have a life of their own and I think they should be able to live it," she says.

Arthur says they were lucky that the Department of Human Services had the money to fund the units and he says more should be built if there is funding available.

"You've just got to pursue it the same way we did and just not give in," he says.